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Architecture: Denver's AIA honors unexpected choices for 2012

By Ray Mark RinaldiThe Denver Post

Posted:
10/07/2012 12:01:00 AM MDT

The Eastside Human Services complex at 38th Avenue and Steele Street has a sleek, low-rise front door, but opens up to a large office building in the back. The parking lot is at the rear so neighbors don't have to look at a sea of cars. (Frank Ooms, Provided by RNL)

And the winner is...a loading dock?

That's not exactly the kind of building you expect to receive recognition from the American Institute of Architects.

Neither is the Denver AIA chapter's other top building for 2012: the city's new human services headquarters where people go to sign up for food stamps or medical care.

This year's list of honorees has more than a few surprises on it, and they're all encouraging. When good design shows up in places where no one thinks it will — and where no one might actually notice if it was missing — that has to say something positive about a city's self-esteem. And frankly, its good taste.

The new loading dock at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in City Park is connected to the main exhibit halls by an underground tunnel. It was built for $2.5 million. (Ken Paul)

"A city gets really good in small increments," said Joseph Poli, who led the design of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science's shipping and receiving facility, an AIA merit award winner. "It happens when we tell each other we're not going to expect less."

Certainly, the design demands were low with the museum's latest addition. Located across the parking lot north of the exhibition halls, the 2,600-square foot outbuilding isn't a place visitors notice when they come to see dinosaur bones or mummies.

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But it isn't your typical loading dock either. It's located in City Park, and functionally, it had to be versatile enough to handle everything from "pallets of Coca-Cola to the occasional mastodon," as Poli put it.

From the start, Humphries Poli Architects wanted to make something that respected the site and its alignment with one of the city's iconic institutions. The museum, he said, was game for something unique, too.

The American Institute of Architects gives awards to civic, commercial and residential projects. The Denver firm Arch 11 was recognized for this private residence in Boulder. (Provided by Arch 11)

"When we looked at this project, we said 'of course, we can make architecture out of it.' "

Purpose was served first: The structure has four large garage doors, offices and storage rooms and is connected to the main building via an underground tunnel.

But design is fundamental to its success. The building is a set of compact boxes with glass walls that frame views of the park. Inside, it is finished off with honed concrete walls and a section of glazed concrete block that surrounds its freight elevator.

Outside, copper shingles link it to the existing structure. As the shingles age and oxidize, the building's look will change. It's a science project in the making.

Semple Brown Design received a citation for its work on the Parker Arts, Culture and Events Center. (Ron Pollard, Provided by Semple Brown)

"We really wanted it to be a gift back to the city, even though its function is quite ordinary," said Poli.

Hopeful and high-minded

The builders of the Eastside Human Services Building had similar ambitions for the project and their own set of challenges. Located at East 38th Avenue and Steele street, the building sits on a not-so-gentle slope and straddles an area of town known for both its industrial attributes and its homes. It needed to fit in.

Functionally, it had much to accomplish, serving a set of consumers who show up when the need arises for child-welfare assistance or temporary help paying their energy bills or counseling sessions.

The design firm Studio H:T was recognized for its 2012 work for another design firm, Studio 2B, in Denver. (Provided by Studio H:T)

"A lot of people coming here are down on their luck or struggling," said architect Michael Brendle, whose firm, RNL, designed the space. "We wanted to create a building that made those people feel important, that they matter."

The 51,000-square-foot center welcomes visitors through a two-story, glass-walled atrium with sets of stairs on either side that guide them to offices and service counters. It's a light space, with touches of bright color.

The structure accommodates its hillside location by purposefully sloping upward from the back, where it appears as a tall and serious office building, to the front, where it is ends as a graceful prow and offers the street a modern, single-story greeting.

The humble front door along Steele makes the facility a good citizen of its Clayton neighborhood by not standing too tall in a low-rise section of the city. So does its parking lot, tucked downhill and in the back, so no one has to stare at a sea of cars all day.

It's an energy-efficient and forward looking structure and, like the DMNS loading dock, hopeful and high-minded. The Clayton neighborhood isn't the city's wealthiest, or its most attractive or cohesive. A well-designed building doesn't change a whole area, but can set a new standard.

"The intention was for it truly to be a transformational building, a real catalyst for change there," said Brendle.

The winners

The honor awards are for the highest achievement, followed by merit and citations. The AIA has special categories for projects that were designed but never built and allows any chapter member to enter its competitions, even if they are currently working in other cities.